The Scariest Horror Films of All Time

I've heard it said that comedies are the hardest movies for directors to pull off. Considering that films like Scary Movie and Talladega Nights have earned more at the US box office than A Few Good Men, Unforgiven and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (according to theInternet Movie Database), I tend to have my doubts about how hard it is to "successfully" pull off a comedy.

Now horror, on the other hand, is hard. Too often we are bombarded at the local video store with spooky holographic covers that offer us plenty in terms of naked co-eds, blood and cheap thrills, and even these are becoming short on supply. Whatever happened to scaring your audience? I mean really scaring them, to the point that they sleep with the lights on for a week just because they can't shake off what they've seen? Why is it so easy to make a movie that has lovable one-liners but so hard to frighten a movie-goer?

The following is a list of ten fantastic films that, in my opinion, do exactly this: They scare you through a slow build, good direction or masterful acting. They scare the holy heck out of you, and they do it so well that, in my opinion, they've never been topped. Let's look at each and see why they are considered some of the scariest films of all time.

Halloween (1978)

Say what you will about John Carpenter, but this film is hands down one of the best stalker movies of all time. Michael Meyers wasn't scary because he was big or menacing or lumbered around; he was scary because he could have been anyone. He was the Shape, the every-person standing in the shadows or driving slowly down the street. He was the feeling at the back of your neck or that chill you get when you think you're alone and suddenly not. The scariest thing about this film wasn't Meyers stabbing people, it was the eerie way he was built up as the guy who simply watched people. That, combined with the simply brilliant musical score puts this film in a deserved place on this list.

Alien (1979)

My husband's uncle said that when he was younger, this was the scariest movie he ever saw. Alien is the slow burn of space horror films, and also introduced us to a new concept- science fiction survival horror. The film takes its sweet time setting us up, never rushing or overly explaining things. We are told a story through music, fantastic set design, rock solid special effects and the subtle acting brilliance of what should be seen as an all-star cast. We don't even see the alien until a solid hour of the film has past, and when we do, it's brief, dark and frightening. In fact, at no time do we ever clearly see what the Alien fully looks like. It's the primal boogeyman in space, and it's scary as anything.

What makes this movie all the more frightening is the sheer amount of time the cast spends in fear of the beast. Sigourney Weaver is incredible in her role as Ripley, and the fear she exudes on the screen is very real and very strong. I couldn't go into my basement for a week after watching this film for the first time.

Picture Source: Wikipedia.org

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

I dare you to find a slasher movie more intense than this one. Forget the remakes and sequels, this is the grand high king of shock horror. Right from the opening scenes of a rotting corpse propped on a tombstone in the Texas sun with the eerie camera sound effects chiming in, you know you're going to be in for a ride. The film has a very documentary feel to its opening, with an unknown cast delivering their dialogue in a realistic, laid-back manner. The introduction of the killers is sudden, unnerving and violent. From the time each of them is introduced as what they are, you feel shock and a real sense of dread. This is the reason I never, ever take back roads on road trips. It's also the reason I never stop at local gas stations, explore abandoned homes and NEVER pick up hitchhikers.

An interesting fact about this movie; despite what you may remember from watching it, there is hardly any blood in the movie at all. When each character is murdered, the deaths are so quick and brutally realistic you don't have time to notice that there aren't pools of blood everywhere. Even when a character takes a chainsaw in the chest, all we see is a faint hint of a spray in the background that could have easily been water. That doesn't make it any less intense. In fact, the first time I showed this to a group of friends, they sat rigid and silent, even through the credits. It was only after the tape stopped in the VCR that one of them said anything, and all he could muster was a weak, "holy %#@." Yeah, it's that good.

Psycho (1960)

I really wanted to do a list of horror movies without including this one, but I can't. After nearly 50 years, it still holds up as a horrifying tale of sin, murder and madness. Alfred Hitchcock took a horror-series novel from Robert Bloch and made it one of the creepiest studies in how messed up a person can get. Anthony Perkins plays Norman Bates, a troubled young man whose "mother" tends to murder anyone who she feels is dirty. The slow build up of Norman from a seemingly all right and pleasant young man into a troubled, violent and maniacal killer is subtle, jarring and very believable. He could be the smiling greeter at the local superstore, waiting for you to turn your back.

One interesting thing about this film is that none of the characters are what a person would consider good. Everyone seems to have a very distinct character flaw that shows their dark sides. While the shower scene is intense, frightening and very masterfully done, the real fear comes from the voyeurism beforehand. So many movies have tried to copy this in recent time (the most recent that comes to mind is Vacancy with Kate Beckinsale), but no one has ever done it better than Hitchcock. Thank you Al, for destroying any chance I might have had at staying at a road-side motel.

The Exorcist (1973)

For someone with a religious background growing up, there has never been, nor will there ever be, a movie as downright terrifying as The Exorcist. Linda Blair is horrifying as Regan, a little girl possessed by what she claims is the devil. Her performance is only aided by the sheer terror felt by her mother, played by Ellen Burstyn (according to www.imdb.com). The film doesn't just shout "boo!" and expect you to jump. It slowly creeps up your spine and when you finally notice it's there, it has you by the throat and is screaming in your face. The demonic possession is only as terrifying as the reactions of the people around Regan, and they do an amazing job of conveying fear.

Recently, a re-release of the film was put in theaters with some new scenes. These new scenes weren't cut for time, they were cut because they were too scary for the audiences of the 1970's. Case in point: we went with a friend to a re-release of the film at a local theater. The theater was filled with high school kids and for the first ten minutes, we were subject to exactly what you would expect; talking, giggling and yelling. Then something amazing happened- they all shut up. Within half an hour, the entire audience was stock still and quiet as a tomb as the film played out. The only time I ever heard anything was when several girls started sobbing behind us and one person stood up, saying, "I can't take this" and left. Now how often has that happened to you at a movie for the right reasons?

The Blair Witch Project (1999)

There are two types of moviegoers: those who get motion sickness and those who don't. If you're like me and fall into the latter category, than the Blair Witch Project should be noted as one of the scariest films ever made. The story follows three young filmmakers on their trek into a Maryland forest, never to return. The chills are slow in coming and sometimes hard to catch, but once you start to see the pattern of what is going on, the film grips you and doesn't let go. The emotions of the cast are raw and uncensored, and the film doesn't go out of its way trying to annoyingly explain every little detail to the audience.

My big shock with this film came the second time I watched it. Once you know what is going to happen, it's unreal how much detail was actually put into the subtle clues given at the beginning of the movie. I actually walked away more frightened the second time than the first, and that's saying something.

Pet Sematary (1989)

The 1980's were a treasure trove of bad movies, but one that seems to be forgotten is Mary Lambert's chilling adaptation of one of Stephen King's better works. Admittedly, this is the "guilty pleasure" entry of this list. It's not an all time classic, but it still gets the job done. Dark, moody and admittedly cheesy at times, Pet Sematary is the story of a young family that moves to the country, only to be struck by tragedy. Their neighbor, wanting to help, offers some knowledge of a place where if a person is buried, they will come back. When this offer is taken up concerning a member of the family, things spiral out of control extremely fast.

While not as faithful to the book as many would like, this movie troubles me on a personal level. The little boy in the film bears an uncanny resemblance to my own son when he was three, and the scenes of the deformed sister writhing towards the camera still haunt me. While lacking in certain departments, the film does a fantastic job at casting a foreboding and ominous feeling about it, as though you know it's going to all go downhill to the point where you just want to scream at the actors to pay attention to what's happening, but the only person who does doesn't last very long.

The Shining (1980)

Stanley Kubrick was a master storyteller, and that has never been more evident than in his 1980 adaptation of The Shining. Another Stephen King entry on the list, but this one rightly justified. Kubrick takes many liberties with the story, twisting and turning it into his own. Everything that is essential is explained, or at least explained enough to be accepted by the audience; the rest is left to the viewer's imagination. You really wonder for the first half of the movie how much is really happening and how much is in the character's heads. Also, watching Jack's slow decent into madness is haunting, disturbing and saddening all at once. When he sits on the bed with his young son Danny and tells him how much he loves him, the music in the background tells you that even then Jack is too far gone to save, but you still feel sympathy for him. At least you do until his wife finds his book, then the film just goes nuts. Then end is welcomed by the audience as it feels like you've just gone through a trying ordeal, and the fate of the father is vague, but explained with really no explanation whatsoever. It leaves you feeling completely drained and very disturbed.

Have you ever seen a scene in a film that made you actually yell out of fear? When the caretaker runs down the main hall looking for the family, he is met with one of the most brutal, shocking and surprising murder scenes in cinematic history. It was so bad we had to actually shut the movie off for a few seconds afterwards to catch our collective breath.

The Thing (1982)

It's rare that a remake gets any love, but this one pulls out all the stops. A radical departure from the original film, this John Carpenter remake goes more towards the original short story Halt! Who Goes There? for its theme. The discovery of an alien craft and frozen occupant has left a Norwegian research team decimated. Soon after, the alien finds its way to the American research station nearby and begins to slowly take over the occupants of the base. Claustrophobic, intense and overly gory, this remake not only surpasses the original in special effects but in the caliber of acting that goes with it.

Some folks have begun to say John Carpenter has lost his touch. After all, his recent offerings have been lackluster and several just seem to phone it in (I'm looking at you, Vampires). This movie was made while he was in his prime, and it shows. Everything is dead on here, and the vague, chilling ending leaves you wondering, who won? And even if the good guys are okay, how will they make it through the cold, unforgiving night?

The Ring (2002)

You know how every week it seems a new remake comes out based on a spooky Japanese film? This was the one that started it all. Here we have a remake of an adaptation of a horror novel by Kôji Suzuki, and honestly, it's wonderful. I had the pleasure of sitting through the original, and while decent (especially the end), it did it's best to throw everything it could right in your face. The 2002 American remake does the exact opposite; letting you try your best to figure out what is going on. It's one part mystery, one part sheer terror, and it does both perfectly. Even the haunted video tape is more frightening in the American version than the Japanese, although for those that have seen it the Japanese version does have something pretty horrifying. Two words: horse eyes.

Since its release, the Ring has led to a remake of The Grudge, The Eye, Dark Water, Shutter and several others. What do all of these films teach us about Japan? That Japanese girls are scary. Seriously, every one of these films has the same generic spooky Japanese girl ghost. You were wronged, you move oddly, you have long hair and you make spooky noises. We get it already!